XBMC video lag

Lennyzip

Hi , just wondering if anyone else has any video lag / choppy issues when connecting their laptop to a tv via HDMI and running XBMC . I'll put up specs when I get home but not too happy with the picture so might invest in a RP with XBMC loaded on it . Would like to avoid buying a new player but can't seem to find a fix around it . I've tried Sync playback to display but it has made no difference . Suspect it may be the onboard graphics card . Fairly standard intel card ( again will post specs when home ) so probably not the best .

White Heart Loon

Your laptop should be well able for 1080p on XBMC and would be much faster than a Rpi. You are probably just on the wrong setting. Have you hardware acceleration enabled?
Also, where are you reading the media from? Locally or network?

Lennyzip

White Heart Loon wrote: »

Your laptop should be well able for 1080p on XBMC and would be much faster than a Rpi. You are probably just on the wrong setting. Have you hardware acceleration enabled?
Also, where are you reading the media from? Locally or network?

Right , specs for laptop as follows :

Mobile Intel(R) 45 Express Chipset
4GB Ram
Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo (2GHz)

Video settings playback on XBMC :

Allow hardware acceleration ( DXVA2) - enabled .
Adjust display refresh rate to match video - Always
Sync playback to display - enabled

Media is read locally , ie laptop connected straight to TV via HDMI .

TV is 42" Philips pfl5604h/12

White Heart Loon

Lennyzip wrote: »

Right , specs for laptop as follows :

Mobile Intel(R) 45 Express Chipset
4GB Ram
Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo (2GHz)

Video settings playback on XBMC :

Allow hardware acceleration ( DXVA2) - enabled .
Adjust display refresh rate to match video - Always
Sync playback to display - enabled

Media is read locally , ie laptop connected straight to TV via HDMI .

TV is 42" Philips pfl5604h/12

First thing to do is update the driver for that G45 chipset. It's no powerhouse, but should be ok
Then if you still have problems, try turning off adjust display rate and sync playback and restart XBMC, see how you get on.
Also try move the file to sd card or external drive to see does it play better from there.

Try disabling hardware acceleration. It can be pretty crappy on Intel, especially older CPUs. A decent dual core will be fine for most videos in software anyway.

Press o during playback to bring up the OSD. It will tell you what decoder is being used, the CPU load, whether frames are being skipped or dropped (there is a difference) and what the sync status is etc

Lennyzip

Checked for an updated driver for the graphics card , I have the most up to date one . PS3 runs really smoothly on the tv so that's why I'm leaning towards an issue with the laptop . What are ye setups for XBMC ?

Lennyzip

White Heart Loon wrote: »

First thing to do is update the driver for that G45 chipset. It's no powerhouse, but should be ok
Then if you still have problems, try turning off adjust display rate and sync playback and restart XBMC, see how you get on.
Also try move the file to sd card or external drive to see does it play better from there.

I had adjust display rate & sync turned off initially & it made no difference . Turned them on , made no difference . Graphics card has most up to date driver .

Lennyzip

So tried this , started playing a video on XBMC . Adjusted settings as advised above .Connected the hdmi lead from the laptop to telly & noticed both a lag on the laptop & the tv ??? Disconnected the lead again & the PC was fine . It's hardly the hdmi lead , maybe get a better lead ??

White Heart Loon

Lennyzip wrote: »

So tried this , started playing a video on XBMC . Adjusted settings as advised above .Connected the hdmi lead from the laptop to telly & noticed both a lag on the laptop & the tv ??? Disconnected the lead again & the PC was fine . It's hardly the hdmi lead , maybe get a better lead ??

It's digital, it either works or it doesn't, cheap ones work the same as expensive ones as long as they're not completely crap quality. Try what I Kill You Scum! suggested, monitor what's happening

Lennyzip

Lennyzip wrote: »

So tried this , started playing a video on XBMC . Adjusted settings as advised above .Connected the hdmi lead from the laptop to telly & noticed both a lag on the laptop & the tv ??? Disconnected the lead again & the PC was fine . It's hardly the hdmi lead , maybe get a better lead ??

Lag doesnt mean anything.

There's any number of problems you could be experiencing, are we talking about a decoding issue? An output issue? An a/v sync issue? That's why I mentioned to bring up the OSD. It may help you to narrow down what you are experiencing.

degsie

Try running XBMC from a 'live' cd/usb drive and see how this performs. This just loads linux into virtual memory and then runs XBMC. Might help eliminate your loaded OS as the culprit.

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=XBMCbuntu

Also, check with task manager to see if there is some process eating up your CPU when you connect the hdmi cable.